Fitness guru Tracy Anderson has lost a battle in an ongoing workout-war with employee-turned-rival Megan Roup.
Roup worked for Anderson — who has toned the bodies of stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson and Jessica Simpson, among others — from 2011 until 2017, but left to start internet-based workout program, Sculpt Society.
Anderson flexed her muscles, filing a lawsuit in July 2022 against Roup — who has developed her own celeb following, including Miranda Kerr – for alleged copyright infringement and breach of contract, plus false advertising and other claims.
Now Page Six hears that Roup has scored the first win in the limber litigation.
California judge Philip S. Gutierrez granted Roup’s motion to dismiss the false advertising claim, and told Anderson to pay Roup’s legal fees of nearly $164,000.
But the case is far from over, since the judge has yet to rule on the breach of contract and copyright infringement parts of Anderson’s suit.
Anderson’s lawyer Gina Durham of DLA Piper LLP said in a statement, “Tracy Anderson initiated this lawsuit against Megan Roup and The Sculpt Society to protect her art form that she built from the ground up through decades of research, development, testing, and investment. The Court has agreed with us that Tracy’s claims related to protection of her art form and her investment are moving forward against Ms. Roup and The Sculpt Society.”
She added that, “The Court dismissed and awarded fees only for a portion of the initial filing alleging that certain statements that Roup made misrepresented facts related to the development of The Sculpt Society routines. We respect the Court’s ruling on this issue at this point, but the dispute about Ms. Roup’s statements is not the main thrust of the litigation. We remain focused on our main objective, which is to protect Tracy’s art form and choreography through her surviving copyright and breach of contract claims.”
A lawyer for Roup tells Page Six, “As we have maintained from the first filing, this is an anti-competitive lawsuit meant to bully a rising competitor. We appreciate the Court’s careful consideration and decision to dismiss half the claims. We look forward to addressing the rest with the Court.”